1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming and filling sealed packaging with a flowable product. In particular, although not exclusively, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for forming and filling piping or decorating bags with a viscous comestible product such as pastry fillings and toppings.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Traditionally piping bags and the like were made from textiles such as calico or nylon. Usually these fabrics were folded with the ragged ends then being salvaged together to form a flexible pocket. Generally, the flexible pocket is of a conical shape with a nozzle attachment being provided at the tip to allow for the extrusion of viscous product such as cream or dough.
Usually such fabric bags were washed out and reused, however some health concerns have been raised regarding this practice. This has led to an increase in the use of disposable piping bags in the bakery and catering industries, suitable formed from low cost, inert materials.
A simple form of disposable piping bag is one folded from a sheet of baking or grease proof paper. The sheet is simply cut into a rectangular shape and then cut diagonally to form two (2) right-angled triangles. To form a flexible pocket the top point (the point nearest the right angle) of the sheet is curled to meet the point of the right angle thus forming a conical vessel. The remaining point is the brought around the outside to overlap the cone, closing the point. When the simple piping bag is to be used, the filling is placed in the pocket and the end is cut to produce the desired sized piping opening. Piping bags made in this manner are typically sealed by twisting the ends of the bag closed. This type of seal produced is not completely airtight and allows small amounts of air to impinge onto the product inside the bag. The exposure of the product to air increases the risk of spoilage and in particular tainting. Furthermore producing bags in this manner is somewhat time consuming, and in today's competitive hospitality and food service industries, many chefs or bakers do not have the time to stop and fold a new piping bag every time they wish to utilise a particular filling.
A bag or pouch forming apparatus for small amounts of product is described in EP 25711, which apparatus is provided for shaping a sealed tube bottom into a flat bag bottom and delivering the shaped bag to a conveyor for filling in a separate operation. The apparatus includes a turret mounted for indexing movement about a fixed generally horizontal axis. The turret has a plurality of stations, each station having a mandrel arrangement for forming the bags. In particular the apparatus shapes a continuous web into a tubular form with the side edges of the web being arranged in face to face relation and then heat bonded together with the edges being in an upstanding position. Thereafter the tube is cut to the desired length and formed with a transverse bottom seal which extends substantially at right angles to the plane of the side seam.
In DE 3543275 there is described a process for the continuous production of conical bags from two webs of thermoplastic material overlying one another. The webs are held at their edges and advanced along a platen for cutting off of parallelogram sections which are subsequently welded together. There is no discussion of an integral bag filling operation.
A further example of a disposable piping bag is described in EP 757006 entitled “Piping bag containing a bakery product and method for manufacturing such piping bag”. The specification describes a piping bag made from a plastic film material and containing a vicious product such as whipped cream. The bag is formed from a continuous web of plastic film, which is cut into a triangular sheet and folded to form a comet. The cornet then is sealed such the edges of the triangular sheet starting from the tip of the cornet forming an orifice, which is then filled with the desired product. The cornet is then sealed along its base to closing the orifice and encasing the product within the bag. The disposable bag may also be optionally fitted with an insert located adjacent the tip.
Mass-production of piping bags in this manner is inefficient and leads to a considerable amount of wastage of the plastic film. Furthermore, the machine described in EP 757006 is only capable of handling productions runs requiring one particular filling, producing multiple bags containing separate fillings either requires multiple machines or switching the product supply between production runs, which is both costly and time consuming.
The reference to any background or prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the referenced prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other country.